When Lee-Ann and Bianca approached me to make a short surf film for them I wanted to do something different; something with meaning. ‘The sound of Silence’ is a film about discovery through disconnecting from day to day information at our fingertips, instant gratification and chaos; Its a film about adventure in its purest form. We decided to fly french Lee-Ann down to South Africa to join Bianca on a road trip through the Eastern Cape’s tretourous wild coast, the ‘Transkei’ in search of something different; the feeling of being truly lost… and of course plenty uncrowded waves and secret spots. I took away their mobile devices and any other connections to the outside world, gave them a map and the mission to make it through the Transkei connecting with the earth beneath their feet and locals around them in search of the feeling of raw adventure. Myself, Gareth Kaatze, Dale Staples, Dan Greebe and Chris Mace trailed behind them to capture this experience in order to create a film and inspire others to travel off the grid. The girls traveled throughout the Transkei for 10 days and filming only took place there. A special thanks goes out to Chris Mace for project managing the entire shoot.

About the intro:

After returning to the office and better understanding the true meaning of raw travel, I really wanted to showcase the opposite of this in the most creative and visually pleasing way possible. Therefore I got Mike Kelly on board to start designing a soundtrack that would amplify the emotion of over consumption and gluttony; where we referenced the famous ‘Flight of the bumblebee’. I started designing the story of the beginning of information platforms right until the end of communication completely where all we are left with are pointless colourful numbers of a screen and no emotion what so ever.After converting my parking garage into a full art department studio where I build all the elements to shoot except the raw bots that were provided to me by Jasper Eales I was ready to go. You will see how a young boy is transformed by external information given to him by the media and shaped into a living computeristic being that eventually crashes from being over worked by consumers. I made use of this concept in order to place the audience in a position of understanding the need for adventure and disconnect.

MUSIC

All music was Scored for this film by the talented MIKE KELLY from SKY BEAR studios.
You can mail him on mike@skybearstudios.co.za
for enquiries.

except for the surf section sound track: ‘Palm Tree’ by Betty the shark